Punalau Falls (Maui, Hawaii, USA)

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Punalau Falls

Punalau Falls is a relatively hidden yet gorgeous 100ft waterfall. In fact, it's invisible from the road (we missed this on our first two Hana Highway excursions) so in order to see this waterfall, I had to earn it with a real tricky and nontrivial 800ft stream scramble over a bunch of volcanic boulders. I definitely had to watch my footing and go slow for it was real easy to turn an ankle or get cut on one of the sharp rocks (watch out for leptospirosis if that's the case). The waterfall itself blocks any further upstream hiking progress. In hindsight, I wish I had brought a hiking stick and sticky rubber water shoes to negotiate the slippery and sometimes submerged boulders in the stream.

I think it took me about 15 minutes each way though it could've easily been as little as 10 minutes or as much as 30 minutes I reckon, depending on stream levels. Given the nature of stream scrambling and the narrowness of the gulch, I really had to watch out for flash floods and falling rocks. If it’s raining or you notice dark clouds upslope (even if it’s fine along the Hana Highway), do not attempt this scramble! You’ll have nowhere to go if a sudden wall of water comes rushing towards you! The whole time I did this scramble, it was always on my mind.

Directions: The Punalau Falls pullout is just beyond the far side of the Punalau Stream bridge, 0.25 miles past the 13-mile post. A primitive path leads from the pullout right down into the stream to start the waterfall scramble.

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How about another look at Punalau Falls How about another look at the falls

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